Santa Marta

Trip Start Oct 23, 2006

228

Trip End Apr 15, 2009

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Flag of Colombia Beach bums again, Colombia
Friday, June 15, 2007

Driving here takes a while. It's not the distances, or the condition of the roads, it's all the police stops. And when it's not the police, it's the military. These young men (not one of them is more than 20, I swear) are really friendly, and once you get used to them, it's more a comfort than a hindrance to encounter them. That's not to say that some of the roads MAY be slightly too well guarded, but perhaps every 2km is a bit overdoing the security presence. Never the less, no-one mugged us, no-one did anything except smile and wave.
Colombians are incredibly friendly people.
We arrived at the National Park, paid out fees, and were about to enter when they saw Gillie. Not allowed. Not in any National Parks. No perros. Get money back, drive out to the road and find a campground a few km along the road where they loved perros, and it was far cheaper to stay. So we stayed for 2 nights with the Caribean at our doorstep, watching the locals try to surf, and meeting all kinds of locals, and a few not so local folk.
Right next to us was a couple from Argentina, in their Ka car. They'd been on the road for 6 months already, doing a circumnav of South America, clockwise. They had many tales from their trail, and were good company during our stay.
In the morning we waved goodbye to them, on their way to Venezuela, and we drove back to Santa Marta and southbound again.